Freight to rail does more in this area

Freight to rail can reduce the PM10 from tires and brake dust that MTC does not have a handle on through 2035 and its impact on bay pollution. Caltrain should include freight to rail in its discussions with other other rail bodies on expanding passenger systems.

But freight to rail can do much more. It can free up space on existing highways thus stretching our highway dollar and allowing us to manage capacity. Adding in pricing can only help. And it takes away one more hungry source of air pollution and diesel consumption at a time of unsteady supply and pricing.

And it can take away the huge expense of Intelligent Transportation Systems that are used to route traffic through neighborhoods after a big rig crash on 101. These crashes are frequently the fault of the single occupancy vehicle cutting in and out of lanes trying to get around the traffic.